This recipe was born out of a sudden craving for something colorful, flavorful, and quick to make. It features baby spinach, vibrant cranberries, and mandarin oranges, as well as the crunch of sweetened almonds and the tang of feta cheese. It has since become a family favorite. You can use any kind of sweetened pecans or walnuts in place of the almonds and blue cheese in place of the feta, if you like.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 10 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 8 cups baby spinach leaves
- ½ medium red onion, sliced and separated into rings
- 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
- 1 ½ cups sweetened dried cranberries
- 1 cup honey-roasted sliced almonds
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing, or to taste
Instructions
- Place servings of spinach onto salad plates. Top with red onion, mandarin oranges, cranberries, sliced almonds and feta cheese in that order. Drizzle dressing over each salad.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 459 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 44 g |
| Cholesterol | 22 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Protein | 10 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 811 mg |
| Sugars | 31 g |
| Fat | 30 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I have made this a number of times and everyone loves it!! It truly is a ‘beautiful salad’! I made it just as it is and used a Creamy Poppyseed dressing with it! Yum!
This was pretty good. I guess I prefer fresh fruit on my salad more than canned.
Delicious. Perhaps a bit heavy on the quantity of craisans and dressing. I used regular slivered almonds but did toast them first.
This is delicious. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Great tasting and looking summer salad. We loved it!
I have been making this salad for years! It is fantastic! Every time I make it, I get rave reviews! It is absolutely delicious. And, beautiful, too!
Because I cannot eat onions or too much acid, I eliminated the onions and the cranberries. I substituted roasted and salted almonds because I have them available for snacks. Other than these changes, made as directed and have continued making it as it has become a family favorite. The combination of the sweet mandarins with the vinaigrette and the saltiness of the almonds made it a very balanced tasty salad.
I’m always looking for quick, healthy lunch options, and this tasty salad fit the bill perfectly. The sweet mandarin oranges and dried cranberries are nicely balanced by the savory balsamic vinaigrette dressing and crispy onions. I used smaller portions of the ingredients to make an individual serving for lunch on the go. For added convenience, I used a prepackaged mix of sliced almonds and dried cranberries that I had bought from Walmart.
Delicious and easy!
Great salad for dinner parties. And SO SO fast and easy to make. The second time I substituted blue cheese crumbles for the feta, and everyone raved about it. I think it was a bit more flavorful.
Great salad for dinner parties. And SO SO fast and easy to make. The second time I substituted blue cheese crumbles for the feta, and everyone raved about it. I think it was a bit more flavorful.
Awesome recipe. Will do it again
Served this with grilled teriyaki chicken on top and it was a delicious, fresh-tasting, mid-week meal. Also experimented with edamame as a topping and could take it or leave it.
Husband and I love this salad. My market had big beautiful blueberries which I substituted for the cranberries. It made a perfect side for a quiche Lorraine.
Beautiful and tasty salad! I added pine nuts and fennel. Delish!
I have been making this salad for years and it is such a hit that I get requests for it over and over again at potlucks. It is absolutely incredible as-is… why change amazing? But over the years I have made a few changes when I have extra time that everyone seems to love. First, I often substitute sliced fresh strawberries for the cranberries. I also usually use half and half baby spinach and torn romaine hearts to give the salad more crunch. And lastly, when I have time and want to be fancy, I caramelize whole almonds vs. buying packaged honey roasted. This last step is a pain, but reeeaaalllly puts it over the top when you’re trying to blow people’s minds. 🙂
I used mango blue cheese and a bit of poppyseed dressing
I’ve made this several times so that speaks volumes because I don’t make it again if we didn’t love it the first time. It’s versatile in that this is a good any season salad.
I made this for a family Easter brunch. Everybody loved it. I substituted slivered almonds for roasted almonds, and this minor change didn’t detract from flavor or appearance.
This salad was great! I used red leaf lettuce instead of spinach, just a preference and fresh orange segments instead of canned. Great taste.
I made this but used goat cheese instead of feta because I love goat cheese…..this is sooooo good!!! You do not want to pass this recipe up!!